Utah lawmaker summarizes immigration, driving and enforcement bills; some measures stalled in Senate

Carrie Ann Lisenby, majority whip of the Utah House of Representatives, described a set of bills and proposals developed during the 2024 interim and legislative session to address public-safety concerns the Legislature associates with undocumented immigration.

Lisenby said lawmakers opened a bill file and coordinated with colleagues and local law enforcement to draft measures covering: stronger penalties for driving without a license, impoundment of vehicles used by unlicensed drivers, explicit penalties for vehicle owners who knowingly let unlicensed drivers use their cars, and the option for law enforcement to take biometric samples to identify uncooperative individuals.

"The issue is when we pull individuals over who don't have a license, they refuse to identify themselves," Lisenby said. She described a provision that would allow officers to take a biometric (fingerprint or buccal swab) when a motorist fails to identify to the officer's satisfaction. Lisenby said the bill also included a penalty for owners of communal cars who permit unlicensed people to drive.

Legislative outcomes described on the podcast: - Lisenby said the pedestrian/driver enforcement bill was drafted, passed out of the Utah House, and then died on the Senate floor on the final day of the session. "We passed the bill out of the house and it went to the senate and it died on the senate floor on the last day of the session," she said. - She said some components of the broader package became law during the session; she described that a "significant portion" of the package passed, while other measures did not. - On sentencing and deportation, Lisenby described a change limiting misdemeanor maximums to 364 days so federal authorities could work with state convictions to pursue deportation for serious misdemeanors (the change she attributed to prior reforms and negotiations). She said the change was among the hardest fights of the session but that it ultimately passed for the most serious misdemeanor offenses.

Data and local impacts cited by Lisenby included assertions that law enforcement in West Valley City reported that about half of last year's accidents there were caused by unlicensed drivers, and that officers encounter drivers who do not speak English and who do not understand U.S. traffic signage. Lisenby said exemptions for farm work and youth farm drivers had been included in the bill language to address concerns raised in debate.

What remains unresolved: Lisenby said enforcement and the balance between impoundment and incarceration remain policy questions. She framed impoundment as a less punitive alternative than incarceration and said the Legislature would continue to work on related bills in future sessions.

Ending: Lisenby said the package targeted individuals whose conduct creates safety problems for Utah residents and that work on the topic will continue in future sessions. She described the debates as politically and procedurally contentious in the Senate and said lawmakers will return to parts of the package in later work.